| EIGHT LONG
YEARS! The Stone Cold Steve Austin story In 1989, Steve Austin was living in Texas and earning a living by unloading trucks on the loading dock. His football scholarship at North Texas State University had run out, and working at the docks was his only way of making some cash. |
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During that time, he would go to the Sportatorium in Dallas to watch the Von Erichs wrestle. He was always a fan of the sport, watching Paul Boesch�s Houston Wrestling on television while growing up. One day after work, Steve saw an ad for a wrestling school run by Chris Adams. He decided to take a shot and five months later, in 1990, he had his first professional match for World Class Championship Wrestling. During his tenure in WCCW, Austin and Adams engaged in a bitter feud�with the student eventually toppling his teacher.
In 1991, "Stunning" Steve Austin was introduced to World Championship Wrestling and spent the next five years in the promotion. As a singles competitor, the Texan captured the organization�s TV Title in 1992 with a win over Barry Windham. One year later, he captured their U.S. Title on two occasions from Dustin Runnels and then Ricky Steamboat. But it was his pairing with the late Brian Pillman that earned Austin his greatest notoriety.
As the "Hollywood Blonds," Austin and Pillman became the most recognizable tandem in the promotion, eventually beating Steamboat and Shane Douglas for the tag team gold. After the Blonds broke up, the "powers that be" at WCW decided that Austin wouldn�t "get over" without a "gimmick." According to the front office, a wrestler in black boots and black trunks wasn�t marketable. During a tour of Japan, the Texan tore his tricep and subsequently underwent surgery to repair it. While in rehab, the WCW hierarchy decided to fire him. But, instead of bringing Steve in to the office and doing it face to face, they took the chicken @#$% way and fired him over the phone. According to Austin, WCW treated him like a "complete jackass," and he was hell-bent on making them pay!
After a brief run in ECW, Steve Austin signed a deal with the World Wrestling Federation in 1995. Instead of letting the superstar tear ass through the ranks, he was given the moniker of the "Ring Master" and issued a mouthpiece in the form of Ted DiBiase. However, that didn't last long and the Texan proudly walked on his own. |
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